Konica C35
The 1968 Konica C35 is a 35mm camera that was the first of a wave of small compact cameras that swept the marketplace in the late sixties and early seventies. If you look at the competition from 1970 on (Fujica GER, Minolta Hi-Matic F, Ricoh 500 G/GX and, most successfully, the Olympus 35RC) the importance and influence of the Konica C35 is clear to see.(see photo at end)
Its appeal to the general public was obvious from its 1968 launch - it was a compact, light and a simple to use camera that took good photographs because it could be focused accurately and had an excellent lens. It was an outstanding sales success throughout the world.
Four Konica models
It could be said that Konishiroku was a follower of fashion rather than an innovator and that it merely "took up the baton" of the earlier compact Minoltina and Olympus Trip 35. However, it brought together a lot of other design "strands" into one camera, not simply light weight and compact size, but a CDS meter in the lensmount (eliminated filter correction factors), a rangefinder and most importantly of all, simple operation.
There are three basic variants: Konica C35 (silver 1968, black 1969), the non-rangefinder Konica C35V (1971; known in Japan as the Konica C35E&L) and the Konica C35 Automatic (1971; in Japan, called the Konica C35 Flashmatic) with a more advanced flash control.
The same basic chassis then had a different shutter/lens assembly incorporated and emerged as the upmarket (and considerably more expensive) shutter priority Konica C35FD in Japan in 1973. This camera was available in silver and had an identical top housing to the C35. Other than the f1.8 lens, the only visible change was the replacement of the "Automatic" badge with the C35 FD one. In other markets this camera was sold as the Konica Auto S3 in a black anodised finish (not paint) A name and colour change made to obviously distance it from its cheaper brethren.
Contents
Konica C35 specifications
- Available in black or silver
- 38mm f2.8 four-element Hexanon lens - 46mm filter thread
- Coupled rangefinder - baseline 12mm
- CdS meter (19-27 DIN, 25-400 ASA)
- Self timer
- Closest focus - 1m, 3.3ft
- Copal B mat programmed shutter
- Combined aperture/shutter blades
- Speeds 1/30 to 1/650
- Lever wind, double-exposure prevention, resetting frame counter
- Brightline finder
- Needle indication of shutter speed and aperture visible on right hand side of viewfinder
- Width 112mm (actual 120mm with strap lugs) Height - claimed 70mm (actual 75mm) - Depth 52mm
- Weight 380g (13.4 oz)
Price in Britain £42.15.0 (April 1970), black version £4 extra
- Konica X-14 matching flashgun available
- Set to 1/25 automatically for flash
Konica C35V specifications
- Available only in silver
- 38mm f2.8 four-element Hexanon lens - 46mm filter thread
- Zone adjustment by four click stops (with pictograms)
- CdS meter (19-27 DIN, 25-400ASA)
- No self timer
- Closest focus - 1m, 3.3ft
- Copal B mat programmed shutter
- Combined aperture/shutter blades
- Speeds 1/30 to 1/650
- Lever wind, double-exposure prevention, resetting frame counter
- Brightline finder
- Needle indication of shutter speed and aperture visible on right hand side of viewfinder
- Window lower right to few focus positions on lens
- Width 112mm (actual 120mm with strap lugs) Height - claimed 70mm (actual 75mm) - Depth 52mm
- Weight 340g (12 oz)
Price in Britain £41.48 (April 1974)
- Konica X-14 matching flashgun available
- Set to 1/25 automatically for flash
Konica C35 Automatic specifications
Konica C35 Automatic
This was a later version of the C35 and had "Flashmatic control" and is identified by the "Automatic" badge
- Available in silver
- 38mm f2.8 four-element Hexanon lens - 46mm filter thread
- Coupled rangefinder - baseline 12mm
- CdS meter (19-27 DIN, 25-400 ASA)
- Self timer
- Closest Focus - 1m, 3.3ft
- Copal B mat programmed shutter
- Combined aperture/shutter blades
- Speeds 1/30 to 1/650
- Leverwind, double exposure prevention, resetting frame counter
- Brightline finder
- Needle indication of shutter speed and aperture visible on right hand side of viewfinder
- Width 112mm (actual 120mm with strap lugs) Height - claimed 70mm (actual 75mm) - Depth 52mm
- Weight 380g (13.4 oz)
Price in Britain £49.90 (April 1974)
- Konica X-14 matching flashgun available
- "Auto Flashmatic system automatically activated when flashgun is mounted on Hot shoe": this was the catalogue description of a system which adjusted the aperture as the camera was focused
Konica Auto S3 specifications
- Available in black (the Japanese-market C35FD version was silver or black)
- 38mm f1.2.8 six-element Hexanon lens - 46mm filter thread
- Coupled rangefinder - baseline 12mm
- CdS meter (15-30 DIN, 25-800 ASA)
- Self timer
- Closest Focus - 0.9m, 3ft
- Copal seven-speed shutter
- Shutter-priority automatic
- Speeds - 1/8 - 1/500
- Lever wind, double-exposure prevention, resetting frame counter
- Brightline finder
- Needle indication of aperture visible on right hand side of viewfinder
- Auto Flashmatic system with indication in viewfinder
- Width 112mm (actual 120mm with strap lugs) Height - claimed 70mm (actual 75mm) - Depth 60mm
- Weight 410g
Price in Britain £82.90 (April 1974)
Konica C35, C35V, C35 Automatic and Auto S3
|
http://www.ukcamera.com/collect/images/c35competitors2.jpg C35 designers probably looked at these: Minoltina S & Fujica Compact |
http://www.ukcamera.com/collect/images/c35competitors1.jpg After C35 arrived: Ricoh 500GX, Olympus 35ED & Minolta F |
External links
In English:
- Konica C35, C35 Automatic, and C35V at D. Scott Young's Classic '70's Compact 35mm and Other Rangefinder Cameras
- Manual for the Konica C35 Automatic (in HTML and PDF versions) at Mike Butkus's camera manual site
- Konica C35 at Alfred Klomp's camera pages
- Konica C35 Automatic at Erik Fiss Photography
- Konica C35 at Matt Denton's camera site
- Konica Auto S3 at Cameraquest
In French:
In Japanese:
- Chart of Konica C35 models, Minor changes to the Konica C35, Konica C35, Konica C35E&L, Konica C35 Flashmatic, Konica C35 Automatic (photo only), Konica C35FD, Konica C35FD exposure meter repair, all at Rangefinder
Further reading
In Japanese:
- Miyazaki Shigemoto (宮崎繁幹). Konika kamera no 50nen: Konika I-gata kara Hekisā RF e (コニカカメラの50年：コニカI型からヘキサーRFへ, Fifty years of Konica cameras: From the Konica I to the Hexar RF). Tokyo: Asahi Sonorama, 2003. ISBN 4-257-12038-X Pp. 61–6.
